Large facilities are typically subject to incidents and other events that need to be handled quickly by appropriate personnel. A number of systems have been utilized to permit notification to designated persons as first responders in the event of an emergency. It is common practice, for example, to increase incident response times by rapidly passing alert information to the closest person in a very large dynamic environment, such as a large facility, airport or shopping mall. The majority of applications require personnel to be free to move over a wide range of the facility. An example might be a large shopping mall with a security staff. The security people can patrol the facility, but when an incident occurs, it is important that the closest person to the incident or event respond quickly. Other examples might be custodians or sales people in a retail environment or medical personnel in a large hospital.
First responders are personnel who provide law enforcement, safety and protection services to the public. First responders include law enforcement officers such as police, sheriff, highway patrol, detectives, special law enforcement, FBI, DEA, military personnel, border patrol, and so forth. First responders also include fire and safety personnel, such as, for example, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, Red Cross personnel, and other emergency workers.
The majority of prior art rapid response systems have limited communications capabilities. Adequate situational awareness is also lacking among first responder personnel and there is not a method for “knowing” the location of the various first responders at the incident scene. The lack of voice communications among the different groups of first responders means that there is no real location information available, and the only situational awareness even available is limited information generated by members of the same agency.
Typical methods utilized to maintain accountability of first response personnel are manual methods. In each of these manual methods, the usual procedure involves the use of some physical means of identifying whether a responder is present at the incident scene, and in some cases, identifying where the responder is assigned during the emergency. Because these methods are manual in nature, they do not provide a technique or approach for accurately accounting for all first responder personnel at an incident site; nor do such manual techniques provide ways to dynamically track the actual location or movement of first responder personnel around the incident site as the emergency unfolds. Consequently, incident command and control personnel do not possess detailed information regarding the location of the first responders and can quickly lose track of first responders.
This cascading effect typically results in slower response times to emergencies, less-than-optimal deployment, and a much higher level of risk for the first responders and the incident victims. Consequently, there is a need among first responders to be provided with an accountability of and interoperable communications among all responders at an incident site, as well as a high level of situational awareness in order to provide greater safety and increased efficiency in use of the resources at the incident scene.
Based on the foregoing it is believed that a need exists for an improved method and system method for determining the closest person with respect to an incident, and passing an alert message in an emergency situation within a defined area.